Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Bolton Wanderers: Troubled Trotters win at Loftus Road
- Published
Will Buckley netted his fourth league goal of the season at Loftus Road
Bolton put their off-the-field troubles to one side as they deepened QPR's worries with victory at Loftus Road.
Josh Scowen clipped the post as Rangers laid siege to the Bolton goal, but Wanderers hit the front when Will Buckley bundled in from close range.
The Trotters stunned the hosts with a second when Callum Connolly scored a close-range rebound after Joe Lumley kept out a Sammy Ameobi drive.
Nahki Wells pulled one back for the Rs, placing a shot into the far corner from the edge of the box, but Wanderers held on to give their survival hopes a much-needed boost.
The win offered a little respite from Bolton's financial problems - they are due back in the High Court on Wednesday over an unpaid £1.2million tax bill, while staff and players had still not been paid for March by Friday as talk of a potential takeover wore on.
The match brought together the Championship's most out-of-form teams of 2019 - before kick-off QPR had mustered just six points, and Bolton seven, since the turn of the year.
The Trotters' opening goal came against the run of play, with Luke Freeman also sending a free-kick inches wide for the hosts.
But despite more Hoops pressure either side of the break, the visitors deserved their second, with Buckley crashing Ameobi's cross against the bar moments before the former Newcastle forward created the opening for Connolly's winner.
Wells' ninth goal of the season led to another siege, but Remi Matthews saved from Massimo Luongo's low shot as QPR slumped to consecutive home defeats to teams in the bottom three.
Wanderers stayed second-bottom with their third league win in 15 games, but closed to within five points of safety, while Rangers stayed 17th, eight points above the relegation zone after a run of one league win in 15.
QPR manager Steve McClaren:
"We had 60 per cent possession, 33 crosses, 21 shots - we did enough to win two games of football there. But we didn't, (conceded) two bad goals and that's our problem - we can't keep conceding goals.
"I can see and the crowd can see that the effort is there, the endeavour is there, we're just making mistakes and getting punished for them.
"At the moment we need to score two or three goals to get a result and that puts pressure on the forwards and defenders."
Bolton manager Phil Parkinson:
"These players have been through a lot and there was another episode with the wages this week. But they're an honest group of professionals who stuck together and represented the club in a way which is befitting.
"In any walk of life, if you go to work and there's a concern about your wages coming in then it can affect morale. We spoke about that at length with the lads and I feel we've done our bit in terms of the responsibility of trying to lift the training ground.
"It's a big week for the club and we really hope for some positive news and that the club can have a stable platform to go forward."